Do You Remember?
by Yuna Yami Mouto
Summary: Kisame and Itachi didn't meet for the first time when they became partners. They met while Itachi was still in ANBU and Kisame was not yet a Swordsman of the Mist. But Itachi doesn't seem to remember. Or does he? What will poor Kisame do? Warning: character death, but still a somewhat happy ending


**Do You Remember?**

 **Summary** **: Kisame and Itachi didn't meet for the first time when they became partners. They met while Itachi was still in ANBU and Kisame was not yet a Swordsman of the Mist. But Itachi doesn't seem to remember. Or does he? What will poor Kisame do?**

Unbeknown by almost everyone in the Akatsuki, Hoshigaki Kisame and Uchiha Itachi have indeed not met for the first time only after they both joined the Akatsuki and became partners, when Itachi was fourteen and had lost his first partner, Biwa Juzo, and Kisame had just joined the organization. In _fact_ , they had met a whole two years earlier, when their respective platoons had accidentally met in Kumigakure during a mission. Kisame still remembered their first meeting like it was only yesterday, the young ANBU's beautiful face haunting him for years.

It had been dusk, he could clearly remember. His platoon had just been making their way towards Kumigakure for an S-class mission to retrieve some scroll that the others had stolen from Suna. The Mizukage had wanted the scroll for some reason but they weren't told what it was or why it was so important, just that they were to return with the scroll or they would be severely punished. They had not encountered any trouble on their way there, until they ran into a three man cell squad of Konoha's ANBU, all awfully young, making them easily recognizable as the both infamous and famous best team in Konoha.

The captains of both platoons had measured each other up, trying to nonverbally communicate who would get away with the scroll that was carefully clutched in the silver haired ANBU's hand, only to come to the conclusion that neither was going to let the other have it, both signaling their comrades that it was time for battle. Kisame had back then thought those three to be suicidal, as it would be two to one for his team, but now, five years later, as he traveled at Uchiha Itachi's side, he realized how arrogant he had been. That team from Konoha, Team Ro as he would later learn its name, was feared throughout all the nations for the three youngsters that made it up, all having become ANBU at an abnormally young age. They had more than earned their reputation, as practically countless flawlessly successful missions would testament. He hadn't know that back then. He hadn't known how skillful those three Leaf shinobi actually were until that fight had started.

He hadn't known that he was fighting the Copy Ninha Kakashi, Mokuton no Tenzou and Sharingan no Itachi.

Not until his unit lost.

The fight had been a sight to behold. Kakashi, the ANBU captain, had come in hot, instantly taking one of Kisame's comrades down with his infamous Chidori as the sound of the chirping of a thousand dying birds echoed through the impromptu battlefield. Tenzou had been quick to follow, skewering one of his own opponents with some Mokuton jutsu that Kisame could never recall. Thankfully for the Kiri unit, the ninja had not been killed but only injured and had continued on fighting, despite the rather severe injury. Kusame's captain had managed to snatch up the scroll from Kakashi when the last of their platoon who wasn't Kisame had managed to sneak up on the Copy Ninja from behind and stab him in the shoulder. That ninja was instantly taken care of by the smallest ANBU in Konoha's group. But the scroll had been passed on the Kisame, his captain ordering him to deliver it back to their village. And unlike Konoha's ninja, who were thought to protect their comrades, Kirigakure's shinobi didn't risk their missions for their teammates. A lifestyle Kisame will shed once he becomes partners with Itachi, but that's a story for later.

Anyway, Kisame still remembered how he had instantly rushed of back towards his home village, prepared to run three days straight if he had to. He already had abnormally large chakra reserves and he had enough soldier pills to last him the journey. The last thing he heard of the ongoing battle was Hatake's bellowed order for someone named Itachi to get the scroll. Five minutes later, when the person in question had caught up to him, Kisame had been greatly insulted. He had at least expected that teenager with the Mokuton to come after him. That would have surely been an interesting fight. Instead, he got this waif od a child, barely reaching his midsection, skinny and pale and painfully young. He couldn't have been older than twelve! What was Konoha thinking, making someone so young join the ANBU? (He would later learn that all three young males had joined ANBU _very_ young. Kakashi had been fourteen, Tenzou had been thirteen and Itachi had been the youngest ANBU ever at only eleven)

Of course, once the fight started, he had wanted it to be the brunet for a whole different reason.

Even though he had been almost half of Kisame's height and only a third of his weight, Itachi had been an impeccable opponent from the start. His attacks were swift and his defense was efficient against whatever move Kisame tried to use on him. It was the first time Kisame had been bested in a sword fight and he couldn't believe it was happening, even as Itachi had taken out a kunai and was holding his katana with only one hand as they fought, the kunai becoming a deadly distraction. He hadn't been able to understand how such a scrawny kid had been able to stop his blows with only one hand until he had sensed the faint traces of chakra being channeled into said limb. The fact that someone could counter his brute strength with perfect chakra control had stunned Kisame but Itachi as an opponent excited him. The little ANBU weasel had put up quite the fight but Kisame knew that each moment he wasted fighting the kid, his teammates might be getting closer. So he had decided to end things swiftly, finding it a great loss that such a talented and interesting ninja was going to die so young without even reaching their prime.

But rare few shinobi grew old so he let go of that momentary regret and instead lunged at the boy, intent on killing him swiftly and to the face as a honor for giving him such a thrill during their fight.

Only he had made the mistake to look Itachi in the eye and with a flash of red from the eye holes in the white and red weasel mask, Kisame found himself trapped in a genjutsu. A very _strong_ genjutsu. He blanched at the sights before him, unsure what he was seeing. It looked like a war zone, there were bodies of various ninja everywhere. The smell of ozone, the ashes and the dust invaded his sense of smell and the wet earth felt like it was swallowing him whole. What felt like a dozen blades struck him and he knew he would have to get out of this genjutsu soon, before the kid ANBU takes the scroll from him. So he put his hands together and tried to dispel the genjutsu. Impressively enough, the illusion only slightly wavered but then held steady again. Kisame tried again with more chakra and he found himself free for but a second before the genjutsu slammed into him like a bullet train, actually making him grunt. He was unsure if he had heard right or if it was his mind - or the illusion - playing tricks on him but he thought he had heard faint panting before the illusion came back. Realizing that there was no messing with this kid, the Kiri ninja decided to pour half of his very impressive chakra reserves into his next attempt and he broke free!

But then came the vertigo he had forgotten about when such a large amount of chakra was so suddenly lost and he grunted again as he started falling. He only barely caught himself when he fell by landing on his hands, since he had felt something hit his chest on his way down and he strangely didn't want to squash the little ANBU. The boy also grunted when he hit the ground, his mask having fallen off when Kisame knocked into him, leaving his face bared. Perfect for Kisame's rough lips to descend on the soft, childish ones of a twelve year old Uchiha Itachi. The kiss was not something to brag about, their lips were just touching each other, nothing sexy or sensual or even sweet about it. A completely accidental kiss. They both kind of just ... froze in shock for a minute, neither moving away nor daring to break eye contact. Kisame wondered if he was a masochist for finding himself wanting to stare into those dangerous eyes all day long.

At the sound of a crow's cawing, both males realized what was going on and Kisame lifted himself up on his hands, both he and Itachi releasing a gasp. They started breathing again, their chests still heaving from their battle of wills before, but a bit of it was for another reason as well. They couldn't take their eyes away from each other. Kisame knew his cheeks must be stained purple from his blush, but he was for some strange reason elated to see the other was blushing, too. And then he _looked_ at the boy and felt his breath knocked out of him. He had never seen anyone as beautiful as this child.

Itachi really _was_ breathtaking, what with his flawless pale skin, high cheekbones and full lips. His nose looked aristocratic, more like it belonged on a marble statue than on the face of someone so young. He had strangely long and thick eyelashes for a boy but they only complimented his eyes, accenting them along with the twin tear-troughs on either side of his elegant nose. His hair pooled around him like a halo of ash black hair despite it being in a neat low ponytail. He was strangely mature looking and very handsome for someone so young. The boy should have been cute, not devastatingly gorgeous!

He was broken out of his admiration of his young opponent when the crow sounded again and he jumped off of the Konoha ninja, quickly weaving hand seals and disappearing in a whirlwind of water, reappearing fifty miles away, where he promptly fell on his but, exhausted. He had to pop three soldier pills to recover from his fight with the little ANBU before he could walk in a straight line and one more so he can run. He was a little surprised that the younger hadn't killed him while he had been trapped in the genjutsu. It ought to have given the kid more than enough time. He was sure he had been under for at least a minute before he managed to break free the first time. A second was all it took to kill someone. Kisame should know. He'd done it plenty of times before.

And then it occurred to him what the implications of that period of time he spent in the kid's genjutsu meant and he immediately stopped to search his person for the scroll. He scrambled his hands all over his body, took off his weapons pouch and turned it inside out as he searched, becoming almost frantic. He growled when he realized that the scroll was gone and turned around, teleporting back to where he had fought the Konoha ANBU but the kid was long gone. Kisame tried tracking him but Itachi was long gone. No wonder he hadn't tried to stop him or follow him. He had what he was after and Kisame was left to return to Kirigakure, with dead comrades and a failed mission.

Surprisingly enough, he wasn't punished. As soon as he had said who they had faced, the Mizukage had pardoned and dismissed him. He hadn't been found at fault for fighting the Leaf's greatest ANBU team yet. He had left the Mizukage's office and had instantly went to train, feeling incredibly inadequate for letting a kid fool him like that. He figured he'd get over it with time, after a few successful missions with lots and lots of killing, and he'd forget all about the pretty little ANBU who had defeated him so.

But two years later (and even now), those angelic features were still all but embedded in his brain. He could recall with perfect accuracy how those long eyelashes brushed the pale cheeks, how their shadows were even longer when he blinked. He could still remember the softness of those young lips and those red, red eyes. And every time he remembered their kiss or anything about the boy, he would get embarrassed and then feel like an old pedophile pervert for getting excited over a preteen. Yet the memories and the feelings stayed but Kisame never saw the boy ever again.

Not until he joined the Akatsuki and was assigned as the new partner to one of the two members who had recently lost a partner and he wasn't talking about Kakuzu.

He hadn't recognized him from the back as he had approached his new partner on the wooden dock the day he saw him again. He had gotten taller and he couldn't even properly see his build from the cloak and the way he was sitting, facing the water. He had thought it would be fun to summon a few sharks to intimidate him when he saw Kisame's own features, but his partner hadn't been scared. In fact, Uchiha Itachi, fourteen, his new partner, had greeted him utterly impassively, not batting an eyelash at his blue skin, his tall built, his beady eyes and his sharp teeth. To every threat Kisame had thrown his way, he had answered back.

He hadn't recognized him.

But Kisame had known him as soon as he had seen the other's face, his _eyes_ , and had known it was him. Uchiha Itachi of the Akatsuki was the ANBU boy Itachi that had outwitted him two years previously, the youngest person to ever enter the black ops, _anywhere_. And the boy didn't seem to remember him. Sure, Kisame no longer fought with a long katana but rather his Samehada and it _had_ been awfully dark out, but Kisame had early on learned about those dangerous eyes of Itachi's and he knew that Itachi's memory ought to be perfect and his eyes should see in the dark as though it was day. Yet Itachi didn't seem to remember him.

Kisame had thought of the possibilities that Itachi had either went through some trauma or something and had lost his memories, or had been hit on the head or even that he had been captured by enemy nin and that they had erased his memories. He even thought about the possibility that, as an ANBU, he dealt with sensitive information and as such had had his memories deleted by his higher ups in hopes of keeping their village's secrets. The more he got to know Itachi, the stranger all three options seemed. After all, Itachi was untouchable, always on high alert and never missed anything. There was no way Itachi would let something like that happen.

So the shark man had decided to jog his younger partner's memory by throwing hints now and then, here and there, about the night they first met. Itachi had no reaction, his face always impassive and calm, his voice level and uninterested, his eyes blank. There was no emotion to the teen and Kisame wondered what had happened to him. Sure, he had went and massacred his entire clan and then joined the Akatsuki in a single night, but Itachi seemed like the type of person to not allow such a thing to rule his life, even if he was bothered by it. Which Kisame also couldn't discern. Itachi's mask was as empty of features as the porcelain, white and red weasel mask he had worn as an ANBU.

Still, Kisame tried for a whole of two years to try and get Itachi to remember that night. He commented about how dusk in Kumi wasn't all that friendly or how ANBU black ops from _any_ village might be there to attack. He commented on how Itachi, as an ANBU himself, must be good with a katana. He asked if he had ever fought a Kiri ninja before. Itachi had glared death at him for that one and Kisame had winced, remembering that the kid had only recently lost his previous partner, also a Kirigakure shinobi, also a Swordsman of the Mist. Juzo had obviously been a somewhat friend to Itachi. Kisame cursed his stupid big mouth for the first conversation he had had with Itachi but the damage was done. He had honestly thought he'd never be friends with his partner due to their rocky start. He was for that reason elated when they finally started talking like normal people a few months later. Well, Kisame did most of the talking but Itachi didn't seem to mind and the few rare times he did indulge his partner's idle chatter, he was always a good conversationalist. And the few times _Itachi_ started the conversation, Kisame saw a whole new depth to the boy he so greatly respected and admired.

Itachi started opening up to him slowly, as he told Kisame the wisdoms he had collected through his young life by observing the world. Kisame had to admit he was impressed. The Uchiha was a real philosopher, when he deemed it worth his time to talk. Whatever he said, Kisame tended to soak up like a sponge and it would leave him reeling for days, trying to grasp the concepts of such a young mind having such deep thoughts. But he soon got used to that and he could more easily grasp and accept the things Itachi said. What really intrigued him now was the stories behind each piece of wisdom Itachi had acquired.

He found a lot of things about Itachi through those stories. For instance, he found out Itachi had a little brother five years his junior who he loved above all else in the world and who he couldn't bring himself to kill. That, of course, brought forth the topic of the Uchiha Massacre and Kisame became the very first person to ever find out about it and to not have been directly involved. He learned about Itachi's beloved older cousin who committed suicide in the hopes of stopping a war between their clan and their village. He had given one of his eyes to Itachi to help his cousin to save their clan and village, the eye now residing in Itachi's ever loyal and always present crow's left eye socket. He found out how big of a dick Danzo was and how Fugaku, Itachi's dad, wasn't all that much better. He found out Itachi's two teammates from the night they had met were Hatake Kakashi and Mokuton no Tenzou. He found out a lot of things.

And it was for this reason that Kisame finally stopped trying to get Itachi to remember their first ever meeting and instead focused on the here and now. They became really close friends, although Kisame still wished for more. After all, he had had feelings for the kid since they met when he was twelve. Two years after they became partners, Kisame knew more about the Uchiha than even his brother, his dead cousin or even Danzo and his old ANBU teammates. And two years later, when Itachi met Sasuke again after four years, Kisame had to repress the urge to just kill the brat. Because he knew Itachi was going to let the boy kill him when Sasuke becomes strong enough. And the Kiri nin hated the thought of a world with no Itachi. He was just glad that it hadn't been time back then.

But three years later, it finally came, the time for Itachi to die. In the meantime, Itachi had started relying more on Kisame due to the terminal illness he had come down with. He had started coughing up blood, he would start shivering anytime the temperature was lower than 15°C. He became exhausted a lot quicker and his eyes weren't helping his case. He was often in pain and most would have long ago given in and just died, but Itachi stubbornly clung to life just so Sasuke could kill him. He, at least, got quickly adjusted to his near blindness very quickly but there were days when he would ask of Kisame to just hold him so he could know someone was there. Kisame hated seeing him like that but he clung to Itachi on those days like a lifeline. He especially clung to his slowly dying partner at night, when Itachi had difficulties sleeping. He feared he'd just fade away and in the morning, Kisame would be waking up to the corpse of his beautiful partner.

He had spent eight years with Itachi, protecting him, traveling with him, getting to know him and loving him. He had worked hard for Itachi's trust and even harder for every smile he could wring out of the Uchiha. He had sworn he'd never hurt Itachi and to always follow him, no matter what.

But here they were now, Kisame desperately fighting for his partner's life while Itachi fought to make Kisame let him go to his death. It went against everything Kisame had promised to his partner, especially when Itachi asked him to keep Sasuke's little croonies away. He had fought well, he believed, but he had always known who was the stronger one between them. Itachi wasn't the scrawny little boy that he had met. Not anymore. He was now the most dangerous person alive and Kisame wanted to _keep_ him that way, something Itachi's current request made very difficult. Besides, even if Sasuke were to miraculously _not_ kill his older brother, the genius would still die of his illness in a matter of days.

That didn't stop Kisame from trying to save him. There were some miracle working healers out there he could drag his partner to. If said partner were only willing to give it a try.

When he was caught in Itachi's genjutsu, Kisame wanted to scream. He had just made to lunge at the boy, to attack from up close and personal and maybe knock him out, but he had made the mistake of looking Itachi in the eye. He really ought to be grateful that it hadn't been the Tsukuyomi, Itachi's deadliest genjutsu, that he was trapped in. From this, he could escape. Tsukuyomi was inescapable. So with a sense of deja vu, Kisame tore himself out of the genjutsu by using half of his chakra reserves, making both partners stumble at the suddenness of it. Kisame knocked into Itachi as he fell down and he quickly wrapped his arms around the younger man so he wouldn't hurt himself. They landed on the grass with a grunt from them both but when they opened their eyes. Kisame found them in a very familiar position.

He suddenly didn't want to keep quiet anymore.

"Do you remember the first time we met?" He asked the younger man, earning an arched eyebrow. "You were a twelve year old kid, dressed up as the big bad ANBU from Konoha and you were the reason behind my first failed mission. Yet I could never blame you. Nor could I ever forget you. But you seem to have completely forgotten me. Was I so uninteresting for you to forget me, even with your perfectly photographic memory and your Sharingan? I'm _blue_!" He leaned his forehead against the ex Leaf ninja's, startling the Sharingan user. "Am I so insignificant in your eyes that you can't even remember me, after all these years? I tried getting you to remember, but you never seemed to realize those were my intentions. You just brushed me off. It really hurt, Itachi-san."

Said man could only blink up at his partner, not knowing what to say in response. But that was okay. Kisame was more than fine with doing all the talking. That's how it's been most of their partnership anyway. He was used to it. Besides, he was trying to make a point.

"Do you remember the first time I managed to get a laugh out of you? I had felt as though I had conquered the world when I heard you laughing. I fought more fiercely for each of your laughs than I did for anything else in my ninja career. The rewards were always worth it." A blue hand came up to tenderly push a bang of Itachi's hair out of his face. He found himself as mesmerized - if not more - as he had been the first time he had stared at his partner like this. "Do you remember the first secret you told me? I swore I would never tell anyone in the Akatsuki about your little brother. And I swore never to reveal any other secret that had followed. I even kept the fact that you're suck to myself, despite knowing that Leader-sama would have found a good healer for you." The hand was now cupping one delicate cheek and Kisame marveled at the softness and smoothness of the skin underneath his rough hand. "Do you remember when I told you I would never leave your side, that I will always protect you? You're trying to make me break both promises, Itachi-san, and I am not a man to go back on my word. Besides, my heart wouldn't be able to take it. Your death would break it, Itachi-san. It has always been fragile for you."

Yellow eyes looked away when they saw red ones widen at the admission. As such, he didn't see them soften with understanding but when a delicate yet deadly pale hand touched his own cheek and he looked back, he saw that those dangerous eyes were tender, sad and full of an affection Kisame had never realized they were capable of for anyone other than a long since dead cousin, a hateful little brother and a loyal Sharingan bearing crow that was no longer present. Yet this look was now directed at him and Kisame felt his heart violently skip a beat. The smile that sadly spread across those alluring lips wasn't really helping.

"Do you remember the first time I relied on you?" The Uchiha asked and Kisame dumbly nodded. "I was near blind after overusing my eyes and you promised me that I can rely on you always. And I did." A gentle thumb caressed Kisame's gills, making him shiver. "And I still do."

"Itachi-san-"

"You promised to me that you will always be there for me when I need you. Right now, I need you to keep Sasuke's team away." Itachi closed his eyes with a tired sigh. "I am dying, Kisame. It won't matter. You have to let me go."

Kisame just shook his head, unwilling to let this happen. He knew he was acting like a spoiled brat or a teenage girl who couldn't just take a break up well. He didn't care. He heard Itachi sigh again but he couldn't look at his partner right now, far too distraught as he was.

"Kisame, look at me." He reluctantly opened his eyes and immediately wanted to curse as he was met with the Mangekyo Sharingan of his partner, the exotic looking eyes regretful and sad. "Thank you. I'm sorry." _Thank you for everything_ and _I'm sorry for doing this to you_. That's what Kisame realized the two short sentences meant before his world faded to the Tsukuyomi's power.

He woke up later, just in time to stop Sasuke and his group from reaching Itachi and to tell the little brat he hated so much where his partner was. He watched his most precious person's executioner walk off, unable to do anything about it other then went his rage at Suigetsu. But he was so distracted from his worrying that the fight almost looked to be of equal footing, a gross overstatement of Suigetsu's supposed skills. The kid was talented, yes, but he had that Kiri pride that Itachi's humble presence had all but dissolved in Kisame. He stopped the fight when he felt Itachi's chakra spike like never before and he - and Sasuke's little cronies - hurried to see the fight of the two brothers. The behemoth of chakra around Itachi was not something Kisame had ever seen from his partner.

But then that freak Orochimaru just _had_ to come out of Sasuke's Cursed Seal of Heaven in the form of a giant, eight tailed, eight headed, white snake and he tried to kill Itachi. But Itachi somehow sealed him away for good, hopefully. Kisame was aware of Zetsu watching the fight, all of them finding Sasuke's desperate behavior sickeningly pathetic as he tried to scramble away from his older brother as Itachi slowly approached. Kisame couldn't hear what his partner said when he finally reached his brother and poked his forehead, but he had seen the breathtaking smile, despite the dirt and blood on Itachi's face before the Uchiha finally died, his body collapsing against the wall against which he had cornered Sasuke before sliding down to the ground. Sasuke stayed locked like that shell-shocked from that last loving gesture from his supposedly psychopathic brother before he, too, lost consciousness.

Kisame appeared beside the brother's first, well aware that Zetsu would try to take them to Tobi (Madara) but he wasn't going to allow that. Not when he knew what their plans for Itachi's eyes were. However, he was stopped from his plan of hiding Itachi's body by Itachi himself. Somehow, despite his illness, despite the enormous drain of chakra and the overuse of his eyes and despite his injuries, Itachi hadn't died but had just lost consciousness for a short moment. He was awake and alive, if only for a moment longer before death took him and he used this moment to smile up at Kisame as the blue man collapsed to his knees in front of his partner. He gathered his frail partner into his arms, holding him close to his chest as rain started pouring down on them. Itachi snuggled closer to his warmth and Kisame was horrified to feel that the Uchiha was already as cold as death. But he was still clinging on to life heroically. If only for a moment.

"Do you remember," the prodigy of the Uchiha Clan whispered against Kisame's throat, sending a shiver through the older man. "The first time we kissed?"

The Mist shinobi's eyes widened at the question. Itachi _remembered_?!

"I never forgot. It was my first kiss."

No way someone like Itachi hadn't been kissed before that! He was too gorgeous!

"Why didn't you ever say anything?" Kisame asked in a chocked voice.

"I feared it would make things awkward." Itachi replied, his voice sounding fainter by the second. "It wasn't romantic or sensual or skillful. But it was my first kiss. And I wouldn't change it for the world." A weak hand tugged at Kisame's high collar and he gently cradled Itachi's head, looking down at his partner with panicking eyes. But Itachi's were warm and happy. "Please." He mouthed the word, no longer able to speak, to weak to even keep his eyes open. But Kisame understood and he dipped his head down to press his lips against his younger partner's in one last, desperate kiss that was their goodbye. Itachi kissed back as best as he could before fading away from the world, becoming a limp cold body in Kisame's arms.

Kisame didn't know how long he spent kneeling in the rain, cradling his partner's body as he hid tears in the downpour like he had often caught Itachi doing. All he knew was that his heart was missing from his chest, the Uchiha having taken it with him to heaven.

It took Kisame a week to get over his partner's death enough to function like a normal if grieving person. He hadn't spoken to anyone for that length of time. By the time he was ready to face the world again, this time without the weasel by his side, Sasuke had already went and caused quite the bit of chaos, attacking the Kage Summit and killing Danzo. Kisame had not even been able to feel rage at the fact that Itachi's beautiful eyes had been gouged out and given to the bratty brother but he could at least appreciate Sasuke's rage and thirst for vengeance on Itachi's part against Konoha. He only hated that the kid wasn't following in his older brother's footsteps to protect that damned village that Itachi had loved so much like Itachi had wanted him to but like was stated before. Kisame had lost his heart and no emotion could really reach him anymore.

Missions helped. Not much, since he still expected Itachi to be there, to tell him not to kill their opponents or to have his back. He was relieved when he ran into Maito Gai, Hatake Kakashi, that Tenzou (he went by Yamato now, Kisame corrected himself) guy, the Kyuubi brat and whoever else had been with them on his last mission. They had captured him, wanting information on the Akatsuki he will never give. He managed to fulfill his mission by sending a shark to deliver the location of the Turtle Island to Tobi before he trapped himself in his own Water Prison and then summoned his sharks to eat him alive so they won't get any information out of him.

In his last moments, it was not his whole life that flashed before his eyes, but only his time with Itachi-san. Their two kisses he treasured in his very last second but one interesting conversation had replayed itself in his head as his sharks circled him.

 _"We don't know what kind of people we truly are until the moment before our deaths. As death comes to embrace you, you will realize what you are. That's what death is, don't you think?"_

 _'Itachi-san...'_ He thought with a little smile, seeing his partner's face in front of his eyes. _'It seems that ... In the end, I'm not so terrible after all.'_ And with one final thought dedicated to Itachi, remembering the loving kiss the shared just before Itachi passed away, Kisame allowed the sharks to kill him.

He opened his eyes to a bright whiteness what felt like an eternity later, instantly wincing when the light assaulted his senses and cursing up a storm, covering his eyes. A deep, amused and fond chuckle stopped him from trying to cover his eyes and he blinked a few times to get used to the light before he sought out the source of that wonderful and all too recognizable noise. His heart - of whatever, since he knew he was dead - skipped a beat or ten when his eyes fell upon Itachi, dressed in all white. A white, high collared, short sleeved shirt with the Uchiha fan on the back, white ninja pants, white ninja sandals, white hitai-ate with the Leaf symbol still slashed ... It made the blackness of Itachi's silky hair and depthless onyx eyes stand out even more. But Itachi's loving smile outshone the light that surrounded them.

"Kisame," Itachi called, beckoning him over with a hand and the equally white dressed shark man immediately went to his beloved's side, drinking in the sight of a perfectly healthy Itachi. How long had it been since he had seen him like this?

A grin split Kisame's face. "You look like an angel, Itachi-san." And the grin only became more silly and loving at the blush he received. But Itachi returned it with one of his own, gentle and kind and warm and so, _so_ loving that Kisame's heart was thundering from it. And the Uchiha could feel it.

"Do you remember the last time we kissed?" Understanding the hint, the blue man immediately swooped down to kiss the life out of his partner, Itachi eagerly granting him entrance to his mouth when it was asked and throwing his arms around Kisame's neck as they held each other close, just enjoying the intimacy.

 _'Do you remember when I loved you?'_ Their kisses read. _'Do you remember when you were my heaven?'_

Do you?

Do you remember ...

OWARI


End file.
